Fields Named Ford President And CEO

Ford
Motor Company announced today that Alan Mulally has decided to retire
from the company July 1, and Mark Fields will be named Ford president
and chief executive officer and elected as a member of the company’s
board of directors.

“From the first day we discussed Ford’s
transformation eight years ago, Alan and I agreed that developing the
next generation of leaders and ensuring an orderly CEO succession were
among our highest priorities,” Executive Chairman Bill Ford said. “Mark
has transformed several of our operations around the world into much
stronger businesses during his 25 years at Ford. Now, Mark is ready to
lead our company into the future as CEO.”

Mulally, 68, is retiring after nearly eight
years leading Ford and capping a remarkable 45-year career. Mulally has
led Ford’s transformation and strengthened its position as one of the
world’s leading global automakers. Under Mulally and the company’s One
Ford plan for profitable growth, Ford has achieved 19 consecutive
quarters of profitability, developed the strongest product lineup in
Ford’s history and embarked upon the company’s most ambitious global
expansion in the past half century.

“Alan deservedly will be long remembered for
engineering one of the most successful business turnarounds in history,”
Bill Ford said. “Under Alan’s leadership, Ford not only survived the
global economic crisis, it emerged as one of the world’s strongest auto
companies. We always will be grateful to Alan for his leadership,
compelling vision and for fostering a culture of working together that
will serve our company for decades to come.”

The transition in July is approximately six
months earlier than previously anticipated, following Mulally’s
recommendation to accelerate the timetable based on the readiness of
Ford’s leadership team.

“Alan and I feel strongly that Mark and the
entire leadership team are absolutely ready to lead Ford forward, and
now is the time to begin the transition,” said Bill Ford, who recruited
Mulally from Boeing in 2006.

Fields, 53, was named Ford’s chief operating
officer in December 2012. He has been leading all of Ford’s global
business operations and most skill teams, including product development,
manufacturing, purchasing, and marketing, sales and service.

Fields’ role as COO has included leading the
company’s weekly Business Plan Review meeting, which Mulally established
to track the progress of the One Ford plan and to monitor the global
business and competitive environment. The Thursday meetings are credited
with driving a reliable and transparent process for running Ford’s
global operations and enabling Ford’s senior leadership to work closely
together and act decisively on its plan.

Before serving as COO, Fields served as
executive vice president and president – The Americas since October
2005. There, he led the transformation of Ford’s North American business
– turning it from record losses several years ago to record profits in
each of the last four years. Earlier, Fields guided the product-led
transformation of Ford’s European operations and formerly held European
luxury brands, as well as the relaunch of Ford’s independent operations
in Argentina and a major restructuring and product renaissance at Mazda.

Mulally thanked the Ford team for their many contributions and accomplishments.

“It has been an honor to serve and contribute
to creating a viable, profitably growing company for the good of
everyone associated with the Ford Motor Company,” Mulally said. “By
working together with all of our stakeholders around the world, we now
are accelerating Henry Ford’s original vision to open the highways to
all mankind.

“Ford’s future is so bright, and Mark –
supported by an experienced and dedicated senior leadership team – is
absolutely the right leader to continue to deliver on our compelling
vision,” Mulally added.

Fields underscored his commitment to the One
Ford plan, including building on the company’s unprecedented global
introduction of new products, innovations and excellence.

“It is a true honor to lead this great
company and this talented team into the future,” Fields said. “Under
Alan’s leadership, we have seen the power of One Ford and what a culture
of positive leadership and working together can accomplish. My
commitment is to build on that success by accelerating our pace of
progress. All of us at Ford are committed to delivering even more of the
great products and innovations that will deliver growth and define our
company going forward.”